Blind Corner
by Safaia
Summary: While under the watchful eye of the STNJ, Michael finds comfort in a personwho can ease the loneliness that plagues him. Spoilers. WARNING: VERY mild hentai
1. Part One: You're Always On My Mind

**Blind Corner**

_Part One: You're Always On My Mind_

Robin lay completely still in the warmth of her bed. The apartment she shared with Touko was utterly silent; her roommate was most likely dreaming the night of the way. However, Robin could not sleep. The blood was pulsing through her veins, her heart, and signs of the adrenaline from the hunt lingered on. Tonight, they had chased down a small witch, a woman who killed her lovers when they did not please her. Robin closed her eyes and thought of this particular hunt. Things had gone so smoothly that it seemed unnatural, and something made her nerves stand on ends. She felt as if it was too easy, like there was something more to this witch and to the hunt. When she mentioned it to Amon he waved her off and told her she was imagining things. Robin, however, did not believe his confidence, for he seemed uneasy too.

She shivered. Outside, the clouds began to cover the evening stars and the moons as the rain began to fall. Turning her back on the window, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep. No relief came, though; she could not force herself to rest. She kept seeing the face of the old woman she saw not long ago, the woman who seemed to linger around every corner, the face of the witch they had hunted that night with incredible powers stumbling toward her and Sakaki flashed in her mind, the sudden diminish of his power made her uneasy to this day. Could there really be a witch that controlled other witches? Did that man they could control her craft as well? The thought of someone else controlling her like some child's play thing made Robin even more afraid.

She sighed heavily and rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling. She could not sleep. Too many things were running through her head at once. The eerie silence of the house made her uneasy and worsened her already tense nerves. She needed the company of another person, this was too much for her to handle. It was so late, who could be awake at this hour?

_Michael would be_, she thought, _maybe I should go see him? Get some come coffee and donuts for him to eat. _Sitting up, Robin began to dress, putting her hair up while watching the rainfall.

"Yes, I'll go keep Michael company."

Michael's head was killing him; he silently cursed himself for still being unable to sit at his computer for a long period of time without getting some sort of headache even if his definition of "a long time" was twelve hours or more. He knew sitting in the dark probably was not helping, but turning on a light at this hour would not only look suspicious, but the sudden change in light would probably cause his head to split in two. He ran out of coffee a long time ago and since he was unable to go out into the real world the supply remained in demand. The lack of caffeine and processed sugar was not helping his headache or keeping him awake.

The night was tiring and there was so much work to do. Codes to break, files to sort, so much to do there was hardly enough time to do it all. The cases were piling up and with the lack of time the killer remained at large and the morgue remained full. The police kept calling, emailing, even stopping by without notice, and nagging the STNJ to catch all of these bloodthirsty witches. There was so much going on and only so many hunters that could handle so many cases at once. The victim's families and friends were begging to the media calling the police lazy and screaming for justice. All of this was placed on Michael's shoulders when everyone else fell asleep for the night.

Without intending to do so, Michael realized that he had let his head rest on the keyboard. There was hardly any reaction from his body and it took a minute or two before he managed to lift his head up. A long line of random letters and numbers had made its way into a case file. If someone did not know better it could have probably been mistaken for some sort of special code. The temptation to keep it there was overwhelming; the thought of someone trying to break a random line of numbers made him smile.

Taking his glasses off, Michael rubbed his eyes as he struggled to focus. With the storm brewing outside the sound of the rain was so soothing. It made him want to sleep. Sleep, however, was not something he got a lot of. The building was his only home and even then he was restricted to what he could do. The cameras were always watching him, making sure he would make no attempt to go into the outside world. There was someone from the factory watching him at all times and yet the building felt so empty. There were only eyes watching him, but he was missing the presence of another human being.

He sighed, wishing the morning would come so he wouldn't be alone.

Robin paid the clerk of the twenty-four hour convenience store and chose to ignore the strange look he gave her. She was young and it was strange for someone of her age to be out, alone, at this time of night. Perhaps the fact that she was by herself that baffled him to such a degree. Only a very brave or very stupid girl would walk around this late at night. She came to the conclusion that based on the looks the clerk was giving her he pinned her for the latter. Robin could only smile and laugh slightly to herself as she hooked the small plastic bag with dounuts in it around the handle of her moped. Putting her helmet she took off into the rain, the droplets stinging her eyes as she raced along the deserted city streets.

Her mind began to wander as she followed the familiar root to the STN-J building. Robin found her thoughts slowly drifting to her work and everything that had happened in these last few months. Her mission was in jeopardy and she could not understand why Soloman would send hunters after her. She had the artifact that they sought so desperately, but why not wait for her to hand it over? These little endeavors with Soloman made her trust them even less. Now she carried the artifact close to her at all times. Perhaps it was never their intention to let her live after this. She shivered and it was not because of the rain seeping through her clothes. The thought of anything happening to her comrades at the STN-J was not something she wanted to even think about. Despite her futile attempts at maintaining her distance, she had grown close to these people. Now she wanted to make sure nothing happened to them, that despite the constant danger they faced every night while hunting ruthless murderers they would remain safe.

A raindrop hit Robin squarely in the eye, jerking her away from her thoughts and back to the reality that she was driving in the rain during the darkest part of the night. The rain was getting worse, the tiny droplets that had barely touched Robin's skin now pelted her with fierce determination. She eased her foot a little harder onto the gas peddle. The rain was getting worse and she needed to get out of the storm before she caught a cold. Taking the final turn, she looked up and saw the familiar STN-J building standing before her. Her eyes gazed to the top floor and she could only see a slight, blue light emitting from one of the windows. As Robin pulled into the parking, taking her helmet off and shaking her wet hair, she couldn't help but smile. As she suspected, Michael was indeed awake and no doubt miserable in that dark building by himself. Grabbing the bag of donuts, the young girl started toward the elevator, carefully trying not to trip over her own long, black, and quite wet, dress.

Michael snapped awake when he heard the elevator start to move. Frantically, he started to clean up the mess around him and set some order to the chaos to at least put up the deception that he was working hard and had accomplished so much in the late hours of the night. It was not until the clock caught his eye that he realized it was far too early, or late depending on how technical he was being, for anyone to come in. Michael felt a lump grow in his throat. _No one would ever come in this early..._ Michael chewed on his lower lip and readjusted his glasses. His fingers hovered over the keyboard, twitching slightly as he prepared to lock the entire system down. The elevator reached the top of the building and Michael braced himself.

Robin pushed the office door open gently and Michael felt a sigh of relief flow throughout his entire body. Never was he so glad to see a co-worker come in early. His relief was short lived when she stepped into the dim light of the room. Her long, blond hair lay flat and wet on her shoulders, tiny droplets of water fell from her hairline and her jawline before falling to the floor. Her long dress and coat clung to her wet, pale skin dripping water onto the floor. In her hand was a very wet shopping bag, the top closed securely to keep out the rain. Her pearl white skin seemed to shimmer in the dim light of the room, but despite her tattered and clammy appearance, Michael felt his eyes linger on her for a moment. The sound of the shopping bag moving snapped him back into reality.

"Robin! What are you doing here?" Michael asked, but did not wait for her answer. He was already on his feet and rushing to get together some blankets.

"The storm outside is really bad," he commented while putting together some blankets. Robin followed him with her eyes silently.

"What in the world is so important that you needed to come all the way over here at this time of night?" Michael found another blanket hidden underneath the couch and pulled it out. He was about to ask if she had a break in a case or something to the extent, but her quiet voice stopped him.

"I couldn't sleep." she replied simply, as if that explained everything. Michael turned and draped a heavy wool blanket over her shoulders, his fingertips brushing the back of her neck. He lead her back to the couch and helped her sit down.

"Then you drink warm milk or read a book, not go out for a joy ride in the middle of a thunderstorm," he sighed. "Is this how all Europeans deal with insomnia?" Much to the young man's surprise he heard a small chuckle from the young woman next to him. She tightened the blanket around her shoulders.

"No, but I started thinking about you all alone here and thought maybe you wanted some company." She held out the bag to him. "I brought donuts." Michael gave her a strange look before he took the bag from her, laughing.

"We need to get you out of those clothes," he said, laughing and pushing himself to his feet. "I'll make a hot pot of coffee and find some of my smaller clothes that _might_ fit you."

Robin took a deep breath and felt a shiver run down her spine as the smell of coffee danced on her tongue. It was not until she found herself wrapped up in the blanket that she realized just how cold she was. Her eyes glanced around the darkened office. It seemed so difference without the chief, or Sakaki, or Amon walking around and at least thinking about a case out loud. She was right to assume that the office was lonely at night. The walls seemed to be closing in on her as she waiting for her coffee and warm clothes. Her mind began to wander as she looked around the room. She could still feel Michael's hands resting on her shoulders, his arm around her, leading her to a place to sit down. Robin smiled to herself at his immediate kindness as he tended to her needs.

"Your coffee." His voice drew her away from her thoughts. Michael stood before her, his arm extended to hand her a cup of coffee, another mug in his other hand and a bundle of clothes under his arm.

"Thank you," she said pleasantly, taking the cup from his hand, blowing on it gently before taking a sip.

"I found some old clothes, but I think they're still too big." He placed the clothes in her lap before sitting down next to her. "Go change before you get any colder." Robin nodded and placed the mug on the floor and took the clothes into her arms.

"Where should I...?" she asked, trailing off. Michael gestured toward the conference room with his head. "All right, I'll be right back." She turned and started into the room, but felt her cheeks start to turn a little pink. She could feel his eyes on her as she moved. When Michael was out of sight she dropped the blanket to the floor and looked at the clothes he gave her. It was a long sleeved shirt with a wide neck that looked like it could fit around her tiny frame. The pants looked like they might just fit around the waist, but as she pulled them on she found that they were far too long. Tightening the belt around her waist she pulled the shirt over her head and found she was almost right about the neck being too wide. It slipped down and left one of her pale shoulders exposed.

Sighing heavily she looked down at herself in the reflection of the panel and couldn't help but feel embarrassed by how ridiculous she looked. One shoulder exposed from the far too big shirt, her hair so stuck to her head that it looked like she hardly had any at all. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out two extra ribbons and began to tie up her hair.

"Robin?" Michael called out from the room. "Are you all right, it got really quiet all of a sudden."

"I'm fine, just trying to make myself look presentable." Robin heard him laugh slightly at that comment.

"Robin, I don't care how presentable you look. Get out here before your coffee gets cold."

"I completely forgot about my coffee." She tied the last of her hair up and raced into the office. She could hear Michael chuckling at her as she sat down next to him, sipping her now lukewarm coffee. She sipped the warm coffee and started to feel more and more awake. Her mind raced and she could smell Michael's scent lingering on his clothes. A strange mixture of coffee, junk food, plastic and mildew that it couldn't possibly be anyone else. "Where do you sleep?" she suddenly blurted out, but instantly felt her cheeks flare up.

Michael was caught slightly off guard by her sudden comment and from the look on her face he guessed Robin was fairly surprised by her own comment. As he watched her stutter through an excuse to explain her sudden rude question his mind drifted back to the moment when he was alone and she was in the other room changing. Her shadow fell across the room and seemed to tease him. Her body was a graceful silhouette and Michael could almost feel her thin fingers caressing his cheeks. Robin was still trying to explain her question when Michael placed a finger on her lips. She fell silent.

"Do you want to know where I sleep? I'll show you." he replied, placing the coffee mug on the floor and standing. He offered her a hand to help her hand. Robin hesitated slightly, but placed her own half finished mug on the floor and took his hand. Pulling her tiny frame to her feet, Michael led her down the long staircase to the lower area of the building. When he had to start entering codes to enter the doors he released her hand and the two of them continued their descent silently.

Michael pushed the final door open and let her walk into the dark, poor maintained lower area of the STN-J building. The walls glowed blue with the moonlight from the few windows in the room. Bits of moss grew on the walls and in the cracks of the floor. The fountain in the middle of the room seemed to be emerging from the floor instead of something that was placed there later in life. Above their heads, a little red light watched them; the ever watchful, boss never letting Michael out of his sight.

"This is where I spend my time if I need to get out of the office. It's not exactly glamorous, but it's better than nothing. And that" he said pointing to a small cot in the far corner, "is where I sleep."

"This place is..."

"Yeah, I know, nothing pleasant to look at, but it works."

"No, I wasn't going to stay that. I like it, reminds of the ruins you would see around Italy."

"It does?"

"Yes, but..." Robin's eyes traveled up to the cameras moving in a circular motion, always watching them. "How can you bear the thought of always being watched?"

Michael fell silent for a moment, not because he didn't know the answer to the question, but because did not know _how_ to answer it. Robin also fell silent as she patiently waited, wondering if Michael could answer something like that,

"The STN-J isn't...always watching me," he said in a hushed voice.

Robin stared blankly at him, unable to speak. _Has Michael found a way to leave without being noticed?_ She wondered to herself. She moved closer to him and he lowered his voice even more, "I have not figured out a way for me to leave without their knowledge, but I do know how to leave their sight for a time."

"How?" she asked quietly.

"A blind corner," was his response. Robin knew what a blind corner was when it referred to driving, it was a corner where you could not see further down the road and you could not see who was coming toward you. So if someone was on the wrong side of the road, you would not be able to see them coming and there could be a terrible accident. A smart driver knew that they need to take blind corners carefully. However, they were not driving, they were in a room with cameras.

"What do you mean 'a blind corner?'" she asked. Michael smiled slightly and looked up at the cameras with only his eyes.

"I've watched those cameras carefully and I've found one flaw in the system: there is a blind corner, a place in the room that none of the cameras can see. They don't watch every single step I make so if I vanish from those cameras I must be moving into the view of another. No one knows about it and I don't plan to tell them about it."

"Where is it?" she asked.

"I'll show you." He took her hand and lead her across the room. Robin could feel the cameras watching her and it made her uneasy. Michael stopped near a post on the far side of the room. He released her hand and sat down. She watched him and as he sat down, it looked like he physically lost some sort of burden. He smiled and gestured for her to sit down next to him. "This is the blind corner. The cameras can't see us. It's a little wider than the two of us side by side and about as long as me." he closed his eyes and let his head rest against the dirty pole. Robin watched him silently and could not help but feel a little petty. Just the thought of being watched all the time made her uneasy, but here was a person that was watched all the time and took great pleasure in the idea of really being alone.

"It must be hard...to be locked up in a place like this." she whispered. Michael opened his eyes and looked down at her. Robin had drawn her legs up to her chest, her chin resting on her knees. She looked sad.

"Don't be sad for me, it's not that bad. It just gets lonely being here all alone all the time. And at the same time, I know I'm not alone and that makes it feel congested. It just takes some getting used to." He paused. "But it is nice to have someone to sit with here, just the two of us, no STN watching our every move." Michael paused again and sighed heavily, smiling down at her, "Thank you for coming and keeping me company." Robin looked up at him and smiled softly.

"It was nothing." And the two of them sat in silence, simply enjoying each other's presence. The night grew later and Robin felt her eyelids start to grow heavy. Before she realized what she was doing, the young witch let her cheek fall on Michael's shoulder. Before he could respond or she could apologize, sleep overcame her and soon she sank into a deep and peaceful sleep, to the smell of coffee, junk food, computers and mildew.

He was a little surprised she simply fell asleep right there on his shoulder, but at the same time he could understand. What she did each night required a lot of energy and if they were to work hard that morning he needed to make sure she slept the rest of the night. Michael moved carefully, trying to make sure that he did not wake her up. She was so small and thin that it was easy to move her, but as he did, her eyes fluttered open.

"I'm sorry, I tried not to wake you up..." he said softly. She gave him a tired smile and kissed him gently on the cheek.

"It's no big deal," she responded in a sleepy voice. He looked down at her, a little taken back by the affectionate gesture. They both remained still. Carefully, Robin moved her arms around his neck so he would not have to carry her full weight, but was unable to look away from his eyes. Michael thought about what he said, that it was just the two of them, no STN, no co-workers, no one was watching, just them. He shivered slightly when her fingertips caressed the back of his neck. He leaned forward, still holding her close, so their noses were almost touching. He stopped and waited, to see if she would move away from him, but she remained still, as if frozen. He swallowed and kissed her gently on the mouth.

Her lips were at soft he imagined, soft, sweet and innocent yet there was a lingering fire from her craft that made it addictive. He tightened his grip around her small body, feeling the warmth of her craft pulse over his skin, raising goose bumps and forming a small line of sweat on his forehead. The palm of one of her hands cupped his cheek and she broke the kiss, breathing heavily. Her eyes were slightly wide, as if surprised by her own actions. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. The two of them sat in silence, unable to say anything to each other.

"The rain stopped," Robin managed to say after a while.

"Yeah..." he said, trailing off. She moved out of his arms carefully.

"I should...probably get back to Touko's..." He said nothing back to her, simply pushed himself to his feet and moved toward the door so he was out of the blind corner and he could feel their eyes on him again.

"I'll help you get your things." And with that, they walked upstairs and gathered her things, an uneasy silence between the two of them. As Robin started toward the door, Michael thought he heard her mutter a "thank you" and "goodnight" before the office door closed behind her. He was alone again, alone with nothing but the eyes of the STN-J watching his every move yet again.

Robin road back to her the apartment in silence, unable to comprehend what happened to her. She silently thanked God that she knew her way around so well so she could focus on her feelings. Her mind was racing, she had no idea that Michael felt that way about her. She did not even realize that she felt that way about him.

Still in a daze, she crawled back into her own bed. Her mind was exhausted and overwhelmed. She wanted to sleep as she turned on her side and glanced at her window glowing slightly with the rising sun. She wanted to sleep, but was unable to stop the pounding of her own heart.


	2. Part Two: I'd Do Anything For You

**Blind Corner**

Part Two: I'd Do Anything For You

Michael was in pain. Everything was so chaotic, there was the sound of gunshots all around him, everywhere, and the agony spread from his shoulder all throughout his body. It spread like some sort of virus from the top of his head, to the smallest toe, to the tip of every finger. He grit his teeth, grinding them together, struggling to bite back a scream. He would not scream, he could not scream, the factory was attacking them and now it took everything he had to lie completely still on the floor.

Looking up through the cracked lenses of his glasses, he saw a bullet slam into Sakaki. The force of the blow made him fall, his leg twisting like he was some sort of contortionist and there was a sickening crack that followed. There was no doubt in his mind that Sakaki's leg was broken, very broken, and he would be off of his feet for weeks. If they survived this, he would be unable to hunt for a long time. Next he saw Karasuma fall to the ground, a hand over her bleeding shoulder. Her eyes were still open and they met for a moment. Her kind face was twisted in pain, rage, and confusion. They held each others gaze for a moment before she fell unconscious.

Michael was fighting off the blackness that was starting to cloud his vision. He heard two more people crash to the ground, no doubt the chief and his assistant. They were closing in on someone, backing them slowly into a corner. Michael saw a flash of black dress. It was Robin. She was seemed paralyzed with fear and surprise. They were still closing in, closer and closer to her...

"Run Robin..." he whispered, though he could hardly hear his own voice, "Run..." and everything around him went black...

"Wake up, Michael!"

His eyes snapped open and it took the computer technician a few moments to realize where he was. Dojima and Karasuma were looking down at him, both perfectly fine. Michael could feel the sweat from his dream on his back and he moved his fingers from where he had been injured gently.

"Who would have thought we'd show up to see you asleep on the job. The chief would kill you if he found out you were asleep like that." Dojima commented, tossing her blond hair over her shoulder. Unlike before the attack, she wore her STN jacket over her oh so stylish outfits, but a magazine kept itself imbedded in her hand. She gave him a small smile. She went uninjured from the attack, skipping work again he guessed. Lucky her.

"Dojima, even Michael needs sleep.' Karasuma commented and offered a hand to help him off of the couch. Prim, proper, and professional as usual described how she looked right now. However, something else lingered on her face; exhaustion. Michael knew that having Sakaki out of commission, Dojima as an assistant, not mention Robin and Amon missing meant she was doing a majority of the work around the office. She was wearing herself into the ground and everyone was powerless to stop her.

"Thank you." he said, taking her hand and she pulled him to his feet. Dojima wandered off, talking mostly to herself about something that held no interest to Michael or Karasuma, She dropped his hand and gave him a very parental look.

"You were having a nightmare." she commented. Michael was not surprised that she knew he was having a bad dream, she could probably feel his fear a block away.

"More like reliving one." He replied and stretched. She knew exactly what he meant and there was no need to confirm it. She simply nodded.

"You're not the only one, I dream about it and so does Sakaki. It'll take some time, but they'll stop." she replied, patting his shoulder.

"What will take some time?"

Karasuma and Michael looked up to see Sakaki making his way into the office, still a little uneasy on his crutches. From the look in his eyes, he was still a little dazed due to the heavy painkillers he had been given.

"We were just talking about how it will take some time for things to get back to normal." Karasuma lied swiftly. None of them wanted to talk about what was going through all of their heads. Why pressure to bring out the things that made everyone uncomfortable. Besides the mental injuries that would not heal, there was a feeling that they were no longer safe in the office that once promised to keep them safe. It was as if all redments of safety vanished with those gunshots. The carpets that were once bloodstained were replaced, but whenever they looked at the floor the blood was as clear as day. Michael saw Karasuma washing the floor where she was injured, scrubbing ruthless at the perfectly clean carpet. No doubt she could still feel the pain, fear, and anger that they were feeling the day of the attack. Not only was she trying so hard to move on, she was also trying to balance the work of a fu and hard working team.

Sakaki was having his own problems dealing with what happened. The breaking of his leg was an accident and the factory apologized for the inconvience, but that did not change the fact that he was out of work and worthless, at least in his eyes, until he was completely healed. The day he got out of the hospital it took the persuasion of the chief, Karauma, Dojima and himself to convince their young and ambitious coworker to not go out on a hunt. Staying back at the office with Michael while Karasuma and Dojima did all of the work was driving him insane. Michael was secretly glad Sakaki was on such strong painkillers or he would be nearly unbearable to have around.

Michael found himself losing all concentration and dozing off at times that were completely inappropriate. It was as if all of his focus vanished just like Amon and Robin did. That was the thing that bothered him the most; there was no sign of either of them. Rumor was that Amon and Robin may have escaped together and could be in hiding, but there was evidence in the lower area of the building that some sort of battle may have taken place. Any evidence of a death or wound had been carefully covered up and despite hours upon hours of searching the only thing Michael could find was a small, almost microscopic, drop of the Or bo. Michael thought about finding a way to obtain a chemical that tested for blood that crime scene investigator used when analyzing crime scenes, but he thought that might look suspicious. Karasuma did reading after reading of the area, but was unable to sense the lingering spirits of Amon or Robin. There was the hole in the wall that had charred remains that suggested that it was blown away by some heat, but Michael did not get a good look at the hole; the factory had it sealed up quite quickly.

Sakaki made his way over to a desk and eased into a chair.

"So what's the battle plan today?" he asked and there was no doubt there was a slight slur to his words. If someone hadn't know better they probably would have taken him for a drunk, but his coworkers knew better. It was just the medication and before long he would doze off, his head resting against the desk. Combining their efforts, the rest of the group would move him to the couch. A few hours later he would wake up, curse himself that he fell asleep, move and get hit with a wave of unbearable pain, take another dose of pain killers, and start the process over again. Now that a full month had passed since the attack everyone was used to this. Michael believed that Sakaki even knew what he was doing at this point, but continued with the act to restore some sort of regularity to the office. "Has anyone heard anything about Robin or Amon?"

"No..." Michael replied, "I only found some evidence of the Orbo in the lower room, but no sign of a struggle or a fatal wound."

"Could they have been captured?" Karasuma wondered out loud.

"Why would the factory capture two of its most talented hunters?" Dojima responded, leaning back in her chair, absentmindedly flipping through her magazine.

"Maybe it has nothing to do with Robin and Amon and they just got caught up in the crossfire." Karasuma wondered out loud.

"If that was the case" Michael commented, opening the various programs he needed for a days work, "they would have been back a long time ago." The silence that followed only confirmed to everyone that Michael was, once again, right. There was no reason why their two co-workers were still missing. The month that followed had been so hard on everyone. The attack, the disappearances, and the lack of answers. It seemed that whenever someone became close to finding out the truth behind the attacks something else would come along and complicate things even more. Or, the evidence behind the attack would somehow vanish from the so-called "secure" places of the office. There was something that they were not being told, but no one seemed to have the courage to go and ask Zaizen what was going on. Truth be told, none of them wanted to know what would happen if they happened to figure the entire truth. Would they vanish like Robin and Amon, vanish from all records, from the world all together?

"Well, let's move on. We're behind and there are witches out there that need to be captured." Karasuma announced, bringing everyone back to reality. Without a word, they all shifted silently into the conference room, though they were all still unable to focus on their "job".

"It never fails to surprise me how bad the food they feed me is." Michael commented out loud. No one had any snide remark for him though, he was alone sitting in the lower level of the STN-J building, his back against the moldy and broken fountain. His laptop sat next to him, giving off a gentle hum and heat that kept him at a comfortable body temperature. The screen was blank and Michael made no move to wake the machine up again so he could continue to research. There was no much that needed to be done though. All of their targets seemed to think that just because they were witches they were untouchable and hard to catch. However, Michael had all of their current addresses and anything else that could help them find the power hungry fiends.

He sighed. It was nights like this that he wished he could have someone come and visit him or stay late at the very least. No one ever did though and he never had the courage to ask any of his co-workers if they wanted to stay and keep him company. The night was quiet and there was only one reason they did not have a hunt tonight: Karasuma was about to fall over from exhaustion. After much persuasion from everyone else, they managed to convince their overworked friend to take the night off. Dojima was the one who managed to get the Chief to calm down and let her off the hook even though they were so behind. Michael knew why they were behind and it was not only because they were understaffed; no one wanted to hunt.

It seemed so odd that everyone's motivation seemed to vanished into thin air like Amon and Robin, but with their minds constantly on the safety of their missing friends it seemed hard to think about capturing witches. Everyone else was also worried about Karasuma who continued to work herself into the ground without even noticing the concerned eyes of those who cared about her.

Finishing the last of his disgusting food, Michael picked up his laptop and placed it on his crossed legs and opened the file he kept locked. The file on all of the information on the attack and the possible explanation s as to what happened to Robin and Amon. He felt his eyes drift over to the corner, the blind corner where the two of them sat in each others arms not so far back. It felt like a lifetime ago, like a million years had passed between that moment and where he sat. He sighed heavily, missing Robin's presence more and the more and the feeling only worsened the longer the thoughts plagued his mind.

Sighing, Michael put his laptop aside. He was unable to focus yet again and he placed the blame entirely on Robin. Whenever someone said her name his focus seemed to fly out the window. He just wanted to have her around again, was that so much to ask?

"Michael?" He jumped to his feet and looked at the fountain. Either he was losing his mind and the fountain just spoke or...

"What the?" was all he could make himself say.

"Act natural, remember the camera's." the voice replied and he knew that voice. It was her, she was right there, in some underground tunnel. So that was how they escaped...a secret passage. The camera began to make it's pass over that area and Michael sat back down, his back to the fountain. She was so close and he could make no move to her. "Are you all right?"she asked and he remembers the last thing she saw was all of them hitting the floor after being shot.

"We're fine, we got lucky, they just used plastic pellets. Sakaki broke his leg, but besides that we were all out of the hospital in a day." he responded, trying to remain calm. He was still a little on edge.

"I heard from Dojima...I'm glad everyone is okay." she responded. There was a brief silence.

"What about you? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Amon got me out safely, but what about Amon? Is he all right?" Michael felt his blood run a little cold.

"What do you mean? We assumed he was with you." There was a long silence that passed between them. Michael couldn't have been happier that Robin was alive and well, but the thought that his friend was now missing from all knowledge made the reunion bitter sweet. There was also the fact that he could not see Robin and that made things all the worse.

"So he's missing..." she said quietly.

"I guess so." he paused, "So what information do you need?"

"What do you mean?" She sounded surprised by his assertion. Michael smiled.

"You wouldn't have come here unless you needed some information. I'll help you the best I can." Beneath the rock, Robin was stunned into silence. While she did come for information she did not expect him to guess it so quickly.

"Yes, I need help."

"What do you need Robin. Name it."

Robin did not expect to stay in the STN-J tunnel as long as she did. She knew that it would take some for Michael to find the information, but she found herself lingering longer than she expected. From his words, Robin knew that Michael and the rest of the STN had been through a great deal of stress since the attack. She was not surprised that Karasuma had taken all of the responsibility onto herself. Sakaki being out of commission was not helping. She had already seen Dojima and politely declined helping her with the work since she did not have a clue how to do the job and keep her identity a secret. She had never felt so relieved to know that her friends were all safe and now to hear it from Michael himself eased a bit of the tension from her shoulders.

"Hey Robin..." His voice interrupted her thoughts and her eyes slowly looked to the top of the tunnel, to the entrance that was sealed shut.

"Yes, Michael?" She said quietly.

"I miss having you around..." She felt her cheeks start to burn and she looked away as if he could see her.

"Stop making me blush." she said in a mumble. She had heard him laugh slightly from above her head. She closed her eyes and pictured him sitting on the dirty floor, resting against the fountain, and smiling. "What is so funny?" she demanded, trying to regain her dignity.

"Nothing, it's nothing, I just wish I could see you blush." And with that it only made her blush even more.

"I wish...I could see you smiling." she replied, twisting some of her dress with her fingers. "But we'll see each other again soon."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I just know it."

"If you're confident, then so am I." A moment of silence followed and Robin thought about how much she missed everyone back at the STN-J. She thought about how them getting hurt was all of her fault. She thought about how badly she wanted to tell him the truth, but...

"I need to go." she said softly.

"Okay, come back and visit me sometime soon. And Robin?"

"Yeah?"

"If you need any help at all, anything, I'll do anything to help you."

"Thank you Michael." And with that, she began to make her way back down the staircase, touching her cheeks her pale hands, feeling the lingering heat from her blush. "Anything..." She whispered.


	3. Part Three: I See Your Face Wherever IGo

**Blind Corner**

Part Three: I See Your Face Wherever I Go

_It's been...a month since they vanished. _Michael thought as he settled into his apartment, closing the door behind him. It felt good to own an apartment again, to be able to actually leave work whenever he wanted and sleep in a real bed. He set his laptop bag on the table and fell into a chair in the living room. It was hard to go back to the real world, and it was even harder to explain to his family why he had vanished for so long, but after some yelling they could do nothing but embrace him, happy to see him after so long. Now he had a place of his own with his family on speed dial. That was something he thought he'd never do again.

His work days were now like those of a normal person. He went to work at a certain time, and he left at a certain time, he got paid now, and now he didn't want to bash his head into a mainframe of a computer. He could go out at any time to be in the presence of other human beings. However, this did not ease all of his loneliness. There was a lingering hole that no one's company seemed to fill. He found himself up at odd hours of the night with cravings for coffee and donuts. He could ease those cravings on his own now, but even that did not make the feeling go away. He could only guess why.

She was no where to be found.

When she was missing, Michael thought that he would go insane from wanting to have her near him again. When they met again, it felt like the void might not be permanent. Now she was gone again, and they did not even know if she was alive. If she was, she was not alone; Amon was with her, but this time he did not think she was coming back. She was gone this time, gone for good.

Michael sighed and stood up, trying to repel thoughts of her. She seemed to be plaguing his mind; she infected him, and now he could not get rid of her even if he wanted to. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to. Her memory seemed comforting, and the fact that he somehow knew that she felt something for him too almost made holding onto her memory worth it, even if it was a futile attempt.

His phone rang and he almost jumped out of his skin. He was still not entirely used to his own ring tone on the new cell that was given to him. Clicking the "On" button, he held the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Michael, it's Sakaki," the all too familiar voice said into his ear. Michael felt a small smile form on his lips. Since the collapse of the Factory the STN-J simply went under the complete jurisdiction of Solomon. Things more or less returned to normal with a few minor changes here and there. The Chief got a promotion and was now the head of the headquarters, though he stayed as uptight and crazy as ever. The hunts continued, without the use of the orbo, but they made sure that they remained one of the few institutions that did not kill the witches they hunted. It took some additional training on the part of Sakaki, Karasuma and Dojima to learn how and where to shoot to disable a person but not seriously wound them. So far nothing had gone terribly wrong and he was thankful for that. The new hunter they sent ended up leaving after a few short weeks. She didn't like the way they did things and thus asked for a transfer. No one was entirely sad to see her go.

"Hey, what's up Sakaki?" Michael asked. He knew already it was nothing good or he wouldn't be calling at 11:45 at night.

"We have a situation that we need your help on. Karasuma is already here and we need to break into this building ASAP," Sakaki replied. Michael fought back a yawn.

"I'll be there as soon as I can. Send me the coordinates of the place."

"See you then." And with that the line went dead. At this point, Michael was used to this sort of thing. It was a much different lifestyle compared to being in the office at all times. Gathering his things once again open his apartment door and looked over his shoulder as he shut the door quietly behind him. He smiled to himself when he glanced at his watch. Almost midnight on a Wednesday and he was off to work. _Whoever said having a normal sleep schedule was a good thing?_

Michael rolled up to the location ten minutes later at exactly midnight. Paying the cab driver for his fee, he got out of the car and looked around. The night was cold, and he instantly regretted not bringing a heavier jacket.

"Michael, over here," a voice called out to him. Michael turned to see Sakaki standing near his parked motorcycle and what looked to be Karasuma's car, gesturing for him to come over. Sakaki seemed slightly different whenever they were on hunts. He seemed to be embracing the fact that he could never be as serious as Karasuma or Amon and decided to take his role as a burden, at least at times, with pride.

"Sakaki, we're here for a reason, stop waving your arms around in the air like you're meeting a date." Another voice said pushing Sakaki's raised arm down. It was Karasuma, and she smiled at Michael from behind her car. "Come on, let's get this over with." Sakaki shook his arm free and mumbled something inaudible. Readjusting his bag over his shoulder, Michael walked over and joined his co-workers.

"So what's the big rush?" he asked, sitting down on the ground, his back to Karasuma's car. "Is it the witch that's been murdering young woman because they're more beautiful than her?" He looked up at his co-workers as he pulled his laptop out of the bag and placed it on the ground in front of him. Neither of them responded. "Is it the man that only kills those who laughed at him when he was in grade school?" Again, nothing but silence followed. Michael found himself slightly curious as to why they were not saying anything. "What's going on? Why aren't you two giving me any details?"

"This mission is...a little different from the ones that we've been doing lately. It's not even officially a mission in the eyes of the STN-J," Karasuma explained carefully. She was avoiding the subject and it was painfully obvious.

"There's nothing wrong with a little off-duty work. Why won't you guys tell me what's going on?" he asked. Karasuma and Sakaki glanced at each other and seemed to be having some sort of mental debate as to who was going to break this news to him. The longer the silence lingered the more uneasy Michael began to feel.

"We received an anonymous tip..." Karasuma started, "that someone resembling Robin was seen around this house for the past three days."

Michael froze and just started at the two of them, completely flabbergasted. Robin? She was seen here? Alive? He couldn't find it within himself to believe it at first. Was she still in hiding? Did she believe that she was still being hunted and that's why she hid? None of it made sense. Thoughts ran through his head like raging river and he was unable to make any sense of any of it.

"But it's not definite. No one knows if it's really her or not," Sakaki said quickly, as if to bring Michael back to reality.

"Right, of course, we need to be logical here," he responded too quickly. "What kind of security does this place have?"

"Just a basic security system, the house is about a block down the street," Karasuma responded.

"Yeah, that might be a little suspicious have our cars waiting outside of the house, and the last thing we need is someone calling the cops on us. Kosaka would have a fit if he found out we were doing this alone," Sakaki added. No one bothered to reply; they all knew it was true.

It took Michael exactly two minutes and fourteen seconds to bring down the security of the house. It was a fairly basic system, but something about it was very off. At the very end it was as if someone was trying very hard to keep someone out. The security was far too high for a normal residential home. Michael couldn't help but wonder why Robin would put up such high defenses. As far as they all knew her name was clear and she had no reason to hide. _If it is you Robin...why didn't you come and see me?_ Michael wondered silently as he brought down the last of the security system.

"It's down," he stated, closing his laptop with a click. He placed the machine into its bag. Karasuma nodded and offered him a hand.

"Let's go," she stated firmly, and the three of them started quietly down the street. Michael's mind seemed to, much against his will, leave him again. The thought that she might be so close, within his reach even, made everything else in the world seem unimportant. Michael looked up, and his eyes fell on the house. It was large, almost a mansion surrounded by tall gates with sharp spikes. The lawn looked neglected, with weeds that wrapped themselves along the gate and grass that could easily come up to their knees. The house itself seemed to loom over them like something out of a classic horror movie.

"Spooky," Sakaki said simply, examining the gate. "It looks like this is where the security starts, are you sure it's down?"

Michael nodded. "Positive, whoever is in here is temporarily locked out of their own system."

Sakaki raised his eyebrows. "Isn't that a little extreme?"

Michael didn't respond; he just looked up at the house. _Are you really in there, Robin?_

"Let's get going. We don't have all night," Karasuma said, pushing the rusty gate open. No alarm went off, and the three of them slipped into the grounds. The air around them seemed to rustle with their every move. Silently, they stepped onto the stairs and made their way to the front door.

"Should we knock?" Sakaki asked, looking over his shoulder at Karasuma. She seemed very uneasy. "Something wrong, Miho?"

She shivered. "I'm not sure yet, but something seems off," she said quietly.

"Do you think Robin is in trouble?" Michael asked, adjusting his glasses and peering in the windows.

"If it's really her in there," Karasuma whispered. She reached into her jacket and pulled out her weapon. "Either way, there's something in there and we need to find out what it is."

"Right," Sakaki nodded to the woman before him and pushed the door open with ease. It wasn't closed, let alone locked. Michael felt a lump form in the pit of his stomach. The security to get beyond the gate was tough yet the door was not even closed.

The house was much like the outside: obviously neglected. A layer of dust seemed to cover everything, but the floor and everything smelled stale and old. There was little furniture in the house, but the few remaining objects looked positively ancient.

"This place looks abandoned. Could she really be here?" Sakaki commented, running his finger along a table. It came away covered in dust.

"I honestly don't know." Michael said quietly.

"Let's go look around, maybe we'll find something. Sakaki," Karasuma stated firmly.

"Yeah?"

"Get your weapon and keep it close." And with those words of wisdom they ventured into the house. The ground floor seemed completely untouched, as if someone hadn't bothered to even explore the entire house. In the kitchen they found old canned food that dated back over twenty years and a few pieces of silverware, but nothing of interest. The living room had a single book that held a pressed rose between its pages that looked like it had not been opened since the rose was originally placed there. Each room they explored yielded no indication of life within the walls of the house.

"Remember when we first walked in," Michael said as they made their way toward the front of the house again. "It looked like someone just walked straight from the door to the stairs. Maybe she's upstairs in hiding."

"If she heard us, wouldn't she have come down by now?" Karasuma observed, brushing some of the dust off of her shoulders.

"Miho has a point, Michael," Sakaki replied, his eyes looking up the stairs.

"Maybe she's just afraid that we're here to hunt her," Michael commented as they made their way to the long staircase,

"Hunt her for what? As far as we know she hasn't done anything wrong," Karasuma pointed out as they made their way up the stairs. An uneasy silence followed as they made their way up the stairs. As they reached the top, they were looking down a long hallway lined with rooms. Each of the doors was shut, and there was a small window at the end of the hallway.

"I feel like I'm in a horror movie," Sakaki quipped. "Let's start looking in these rooms." He started down the hallway.

"Keep your guard up," Karasuma stated harshly.

"Yes, Miho." And with that Sakaki started down the hallway. Karasuma and Michael looked at each other as they began to explore the rooms as well. Michael adjusted his bag over his shoulder and sighed. _Maybe she isn't here after all...maybe someone was playing a joke or something._ He opened the first door and looked inside. The room was empty except for a single metal bed that sat in the middle of the room. He could swear he could see the dust from the doorway and closed the door behind him. Michael sighed heavily and looked down the hallway. Sakaki and Karasuma were already halfway down the hallway. They were arguing about something as they opened door after door. Michael sighed and began to stroll down the hallway. _This is a waste of time. No one's here._

It was then that he heard it. Stopping dead in his tracks Michael looked at the door. He was sure of it: Behind those doors he heard movement, the sound of a woman's shoes on the wooden floor. Everything around him seemed to come to a halt. Looking ahead, he saw that Karasuma and Sakaki had not heard it. They were still going about their business as if nothing had happened at all. Michael swallowed. _Is that you? Are you in there?_ Taking a deep breath, he reached for the door and pulled it open.

For a moment, Michael was sure all of time had come to a complete halt. There she was, standing near the window of the gloomy room. Her hair was wrapped in the black ribbons just as always, her black dress neatly pressed and her arms were folded tightly in front of her chest as if she wad cold. She turned around and looked at him, looking equally surprised.

"Michael? Is that you?" she asked, and he was sure it was her now. He'd know her voice anywhere. Before he could stop himself, Michael found himself holding her to him.

"I can't believe it's you. I thought I'd never see you again," he whispered, holding her tightly. She wrapped her arms carefully around him.

"Michael...I'm sorry that I've been away for so long," her voice was soft, kind, and he could feel that she was sorry, she was so sorry. "I'm also sorry about something else." He pulled away and looked down at her.

"What is it, Robin?"

"I'm sorry...that you and your little friends are so easy to fool." She said slyly as her entire body temperature began to rise very quickly. Michael pulled away and looked at his hands; they were burned.

"Robin what are you–?" She gave him no time to finish. An unseen force knocked the air out of Michael and sent him off his feet, through the doorway, and into the wall, hard. Stars from the night sky danced in front of his eyes, and he blinked a few times to make them go away. He could vaguely hear Karasuma and Sakaki asking for him, asking what was wrong and rushing toward him. Michael was not paying attention to them. All he could see was Robin walking slowly toward him with a smile on her lips that seemed so unfamiliar.

"Michael, are you all–?" Karasuma cut herself up as she looked up at the girl standing before them. "Robin?" With a swift movement of her hand, Karasuma's weapon was on the ground. There was a deep cut on his colleague's hand now, blood dripping from the wound. "Robin what are you–?" Karasuma slammed into the wall and slid down to the ground, wincing in pain.

"Now, now Miho, you stay down," Robin said sternly, "You too Sakaki."

Sakaki hit the ground and slid a few feet away from them, his gun lying inches away from his now lifeless hand.

"No heroics for you tonight," Robin said.

Karasuma winced and held her bleeding hand to her chest. "Who are you? You can't be Robin," she stated firmly.

The girl began to laugh and the image of their friend melted away in front of their eyes. The woman that stood in front of them was not Robin. Her hair was long and black, down to the middle of her back. Her eyes were as gray as storm clouds, and she wore a simple black dress.

"I never imagined that the STN-J would be so easy to corner," she said mockingly. "All I needed to do was pose as your little friend and you came running with no back up like the fools you are."

"Why are you doing this?" Karasuma asked.

The woman smiled. "Because there is no way I am going to let the likes of you catch me," she responded, and put her hand out in front of them. Michael felt cold hands close around his neck and hold him against the wall. He glanced over at Karasuma and saw that she must have been feeling the same thing. He recognized this witch. Her name was Ruby, age and birth place unknown. She was supposed to be out of the country right now so her hunt was placed on hold. No doubt it was all part of her plan to corner them.

She smiled down at them. "Since neither of you are going anywhere I think I'll take care of your unconscious friend over there first. I plan on leaving each of your bodies in various different places to serve as a warning, a warning that we are not going to lay down and let you take us in." Keeping a hand out to them, she began to walk backwards toward Sakaki. Using her power, she moved him onto his back. Kneeling down, she placed her other hand over his neck. She was going to strangle him to death. Melting back into Robin's form she said something about seeing their friend before they died would be more amusing.

Michael struggled to move as silently as he could. She did not bother to check his computer bag for anything that could be used as a weapon. It was not something that he normally did. The burned skin on his hands protested fiercely as he opened the bag and his fingers felt the cold metal of his gun. Sakaki was struggling against her now, though he was beginning to weaken, the skin on his face developing a blue tint as he struggled for air. Karasuma was screaming at Ruby, begging her to stop and struggling against the power that held her firmly in place. Clutching the gun tightly, he felt the skin on his hands break open and begin to bleed. Moving swiftly, Michael aimed the gun at Ruby's mid back and fired.

The power around his neck loosened and Michael was on his feet, pointing the gun at the witch that so closely resembled his Robin. Blood dripped from his hands. She turned and looked at him, her eyes wide, those eyes he loved so much. He didn't give her a chance to captivate him though, he fired again, this time at her right shoulder. She stumbled back a few steps and fell to the ground near Sakaki, not moving. Michael dropped the gun and fell to his knees. Karasuma was on her feet and rushed over to Sakaki, who was still struggling to breath. No one said a word, Karasuma simply helped Sakaki stand. Michael struggled to his feet, and they left Ruby on the floor of the house. Words were not needed; they were not planning on filing a report on this.

Michael wandered the streets of downtime three days later. His hands were carefully bandaged, and he could not use his computer easily for at least a week now. Kosaka had a fit when he found out about their injuries, but they simply said they were jumped after meeting at Harry's for a drink and something to eat. Kosaka didn't believe them, but dropped the subject and gave them a few days off. Michael heaved a sigh as he made his way through the crowds, occasionally looking up to make sure he didn't hit any objects that were stationary, like the traffic pole he had already hit dead on earlier that day. Since the incident, Michael was seeing Robin everywhere now, but he ignored most of them, now completely sure that they were not her.

His heart ached as the image of shooting her rolled over in his mind. He was unable to forget that moment even if it wasn't really her that he'd shot. _I had no hesitation when I shot her. _And for that he could not forgive himself. He stopped and watched the passing people. For a moment, he thought he saw her across the street. He blinked once, and she was gone. _It's like she won't ever leave me alone. It's like I can't forget her even if I wanted to. _He paused and looked at the concrete a small smile forming on his lips. _I don't want to forget her and I never will. I promised myself I'd see you again and I will. We'll find each other Robin. Someday, we'll find each other._

-10/02/05


End file.
